Morsbags from books of fabric samples

[beattieKeymaster]

I’ve been having so much fun! 😀

Last September Offcuts gave me some books of fabric samples – you know, the ones you get in posh curtain shops. There was a book of velvet samples, one of brocades and another of gorgeous voiles and fine embroidered fabrics. Yummy!! 😀

We dismantled the books – the velvets had been hot-glued onto the wooden spine of the book, so one edge of most of them needed a bit of a trim.
Usefully, though, they came in sets that were just right for bag- making. Two samples matched for colour and size but had different patterns,and there was a third, smaller piece, just right for a pair of handles.

The brocades and voiles had been thoroughly nailed and / or riveted onto the wooden spines of the sample books – there was no chance that they would fall out of the book!! The samples are mostly very slightly smaller than a standard morsbag, being 16.5″x 17.5″

I started on the velvet pieces first, but soon found that the fabric was just too thick to sew – I broke several needles making the first one. As the pieces are a teensy bit small, I tried appliqueing it onto plain white fabric and sewing that up. It worked, but it was a lengthy process and the results were so-so.

I think I’ll have to applique smaller bits onto dull bags to use these up, but that’s fine, we have lots of dull fabric that’s just begging for some velvet to make it more interesting.

Next I had a go at the voiles. I was a bit worried that these fabrics might be too thin to make useful, durable bags, so I made a test bag, that’s been shopping with me ever since. It’s proved to be just as strong and durable as my other morsbags, so now I’ve made a few more, like these.

Now the fabrics I really love – the brocades! These make absolutely super bags! 😀

I choose a set of five fabrics that go together pleasingly. Four of them will make bag bodies and the other one is cut into strips to make four handles.

These will make six bags altogether –

Now we come to the tricky bit! The edges of the samples have been reinforced by either strong paper, stuck and sewn on, or, in the case of the transparent fabrics, by sticky backed plastic strip. Trying to remove the paper leaves a lot of “bits” that can’t be picked, washed or soaked off – I’ve tried. So I’ve decided it’s best to leave them. The sticky backed plastic is easy to peel off, but leaves a nasty sticky residue on the fabric, which gets transferred onto the sewing machine (I had to clean mine up with soap solution), so now I leave that on too.

The reinforced edges make turning the bag inside out and back again very difficult, so I’ve reversed the order of the french seam. To minimise turning inside out and back, I join the bag bodies with right sides together, instead of wrong sides as we usually do. We call this the “pie-crust variation” as it reminds me of a pie-crust collar.

Then turn right way out, “persuading” the stiff paper to fold at the seam, and sew around the edge on the outside, enclosing the raw edges. It does mean that your second seam is visible as top-stitching, so I do it as neatly as I can.

The other variation I’ve made to cope with the very stiff edges of the fabric, is to sew across the corners at an angle to make it easier to turn them.

Here are most of the fabric sample bags I’ve made so far –

I’m sure they’re going to fly out of our hands!! 😀

[masterclockParticipant]

The “solid” fabric seem to photograph best, but the gauzy fabrics are just as attractive in real life – (except everyone could see what you have bought ????)

[offcutsParticipant]

Beattie, thank you so much for doing all this. It is very useful. I shall read it later. I have sent you some leather needles to try. They have never let us down! Also the walking foot that I have been promising. Did you make the little brown bag that my necklace came in? Did you manage to get any of the paper off with heat? xx

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by  offcuts.

[beattieKeymaster]

Ooh, thank you Offcuts!I’m looking forward to trying them out.

I did make the little bag – the girl in the cafe put your necklace in a horrid manilla envelope that it fell out of all the time, so I used a scrap from one of the samples books to make it.

I didn’t try heat, but I don’t think the fabrics would take well to it – I think there’s a lot of polyester in them there samples! 😀

[ivybagsParticipant]

They look brilliant – I remember making bags with an applique of fabric samples (little ones) – I used the baclkout fabric, and they were brightened up no end

[KrisabyParticipant]

Aren’t those bags a joy? It is interesting that the voile is so strong. I have never used it on its own but used it to cover another fabric on the assumption it wouldn’t be strong enough on its own. I have only once been given sample fabrics from a book and had a lovely time making bags but the samples were of curtain fabric and so very easy to handle. I thought yours wonderfully exotic Beattie.

[beattieKeymaster]

Thank you, Krisaby, but the exoticism is down to the lovely fabrics. I look forward to sewing them 😀

Thanks Ivybags! Patches of super fabrics do such a lot to “lift” plain bags 😀

[offcutsParticipant]

Someone told me the manufacturers put the paper on so the pieces couldn’t be used!Ha!….. I was wondering about 2 layers for the voile then the shopping would be a bit more secret!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by  offcuts.

[beattieKeymaster]

You could sew the 2 layers of voile together before making the bag. Round the edges, or across to make a sort of quilted effect. But our grannies weren’t worried about people seeing their shopping in their string bags.

[masterclockParticipant]

I wonder, could you crochet a Morsbag. Out of recycled string of course??

[KrisabyParticipant]

OOOOOh M/c I think that would be a good challenge to the Bude Baggers who do a lot of beachcombing. I am sure they would find enough string in their hoard.

[offcutsParticipant]

They called themselves beach wombles until they found it has another meaning :-0!!

[KrisabyParticipant]

It was indeed very :-O!

[beattieKeymaster]

My google must be broken! I looked up “Beach Womble” and found lots of articles about people picking litter off beaches…. No :-O at all!

[beattieKeymaster]

I found instructions for making a string bag, though –
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Net-Shower-Bag/
(This one may be a bit small for shopping)
or this
http://wampumkeeper.com/netstringbag.html
(more of a shopping bag size)

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